Tudor History with Claire Ridgway

December 3 - Roger North, a man close to Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I

On this day in Tudor history, 3rd December 1600, sixty-nine-year-old peer and politician Roger North, 2nd Baron North, died at his London home.
 
North was a good friend of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, accompanying him on trips, witnessing his secret marriage and serving with him in the Netherlands. It was even said that he'd converted Leicester to Puritanism! North also served Elizabeth I as Privy Councillor and Treasurer of the Household, and was close to the queen.
 
Find out more about Leicester's good friend Roger North, his life and career, in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of several Tudor history books. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/aKtKO5W36HI
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 3rd December 1536, a proclamation was made to the rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace offering them a pardon. Henry VIII offered the rebels "free pardons" for their rebellion against him, his advisors and his religious measures, yet prominent rebels ended up being executed. I explain what happened in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/4S_zCy-NMqU 
 
Claire is the founder of the Tudor Society, an online membership site for those who love Tudor history. There, you can learn from Claire and many other expert historians and authors, enjoy Tudor-focused magazines and live Q&A sessions with experts, and have access to all kinds of talks, articles, quizzes, virtual tours and more. Try it with a 14-day free trial - https://www.tudorsociety.com/signup/
 
Claire has written some bestselling Tudor history books:
 
On This Day in Tudor History - https://amzn.to/3oceahH
The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown - https://amzn.to/3m8KaSi
George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat - https://amzn.to/2TdwyZr
The Anne Boleyn Collection - https://amzn.to/3kiQc1T
The Anne Boleyn Collection II - https://amzn.to/3o9LUwi
The Anne Boleyn Collection III - https://amzn.to/3kiQc1T
The Life of Anne Boleyn Colouring Books - https://amzn.to/3jkJ5Vz
 
Claire has also done an online history course, The Life of Anne Boleyn, for MedievalCourses.com - https://medievalcourses.com/overview/life-anne-boleyn-mc06/
 
You can find Claire at:
https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com 
https://www.tudorsociety.com
https://www.facebook.com/theanneboleynfiles/
https://www.facebook.com/tudorsociety/
https://twitter.com/AnneBoleynFiles 
https://twitter.com/thetudorsociety 
https://www.instagram.com/tudor.society/ 
https://www.instagram.com/anneboleynfiles/

December 2 - Elizabeth I relents and agrees to execute Mary, Queen of Scots

On this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1586, following a joint petition from the Houses of Lords and Commons, Elizabeth I finally agreed to a public proclamation of sentence against Mary, Queen of Scots: death.
 
Mary had been found guilty of high treason back in October 1586, but Elizabeth had not wanted to contemplate regicide. However,  Parliament believed that if Mary, Queen of Scots, was not executed, that she'd continue to plot against Elizabeth and would utterly "ruinate and overthrow the happy State and Common Weal of this most Noble Realm". She was too much of a danger and needed dealing with once and for all.
 
Find out what Parliament said and what happened next in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway.
 
September 26 - The man Elizabeth I wanted to murder Mary, Queen of Scots - https://youtu.be/AH956PwobRs 
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 2nd December 1546, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, poet, courtier, soldier and the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was arrested after a former friend gave evidence against him. King Henry VIII had just weeks to live and was increasingly paranoid, so the 'evidence' was just what Surrey's enemies needed to bring the earl down. Find out more about the Earl of Surrey's downfall, and how his father managed to keep his head in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/qgOp-iremGg 

December 1 - A Catholic priest is tortured then executed

On this day in Tudor history, 1st December 1581, twenty-five year old Roman Catholic priest Alexander Briant was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, along with Ralph Sherwin and Edmund Campion. 
 
Briant had been imprisoned, starved, racked and tortured in other awful ways, but he claimed that he felt no pain due to God's help. He refused to give his interrogators the information he wanted, and he was tried for treason and suffered a full traitor's death.
 
In today's talk, Claire Ridgway, author of "On This Day in Tudor History", shares Alexander Briant's story, what led to his arrest,  his account of what happened when he was tortured and his fellow prisoner's account of what was done to him. 
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 1st December 1541, Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were tried for high treason at Guildhall, London. Both men had been linked romantically with Queen Catherine Howard. They were both found guilty of treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. But what about Catherine Howard and her lady, Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, who had also been arrested. What was happening with them? Find out more about them, and the trial of Dereham and Culpeper in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/3vf3zSxkDf0 

November 30 - Elizabeth I's Golden Speech brings men to tears

On this day in Tudor history, 30th November 1601, sixty-eight-year-old Queen Elizabeth I delivered her famous Golden Speech to the House of Commons. 
 
In this final speech to Parliament, Elizabeth spoke of her position as Queen and her love and respect for her realm, her people, and for her members of Parliament. It was a speech that brought many of those listening to tears. It was obviously a very heartfelt speech by a queen who truly loved her people.
 
In today's talk, historian Claire Ridgway shares Elizabeth I's Golden Speech along with some beautiful portraits of the queen. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/d-9YFGnWjG4
 
Harleian Miscellany version  - https://archive.org/stream/harleianmiscella01oldy#page/366/mode/2up
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 30th November 1529, the feast of St Andrew, Henry VIII was reproached by the two women in his life: his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and the woman he wanted to marry, Anne Boleyn. Catherine of Aragon was not impressed by the way her husband was treating her, and Anne Boleyn didn't like the fact that the king was letting Catherine get the upper hand. They both told the king exactly what they thought. Find out what happened in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/eJGHWFhX_Tg 

November 29 - A courtier who served in four monarchs' reign and died a natural death!

On this day in Tudor history, 29th November 1528, nobleman and courtier, Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, was born.
 
Montagu began his court career with the help of his father in Henry VIII's reign. served as a privy councillor in Mary I's reign, and died a natural death as a wealthy man in Elizabeth I's reign. He even survived being implicated in a rebellion!  
Who was Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, and just how did he manage to not only have an excellent court career, but leave a fortune to his grandson, when he was a Catholic in Elizabeth I's reign?
 
Find out all about him in today's talk from Claire Ridgway, author of several Tudor history books.
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 29th November 1530,  Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor, died at Leicester Abbey. The cardinal cheated the executioner by dying a natural death while on his way to London to answer charges of treason. You can find out about Cardinal Wolsey's death, and who ended up being buried in the sarcophagus he'd had commissioned in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/KtVsZbo9RWs 

November 28 - A drowned agent carrying gold for Mary, Queen of Scots

On this day in Tudor history, 28th November 1565, member of Parliament and political agent Francis Yaxley set sail for Scotland from Antwerp. 
 
Sadly, Yaxley's ship was wrecked in a storm and he never reached Scotland, and neither did the gold he was carrying to Mary, Queen of Scots.
 
But why was he carrying gold and who was it from? What happened to the gold?
 
Find out all about Yaxley, how he came to be travelling from Antwerp to Scotland, and what happened to him and the gold, in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway.
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 28th November 1499, Edward Plantagenet, styled Earl of Warwick, was executed by beheading on Tower Hill. Warwick was a potential claimant to the throne being the son of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III, but it was his involvement in a plot by pretender Perkin Warbeck that was his final undoing.Find out more about his short and sad life, much of it spent in prison, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/nqbeu8R3XMw 

November 27 - Former monk burnt at stake for importing books

On this day in Tudor history, 27th November 1531, former Benedictine monk and reformist, Richard Bayfield, was burnt at the stake at Smithfield for heresy after Sir Thomas More had caught him importing heretical books into England.
 
It wasn't Bayfield's first brush with the authorities. He'd been in trouble for heresy previously so was now deemed a "relapsed heretic". This time, penance wasn't enough, he was condemned to death.
 
Find out more about Richard Bayfield, how he went from being a monk to a reformer, and how he ended up at the stake as a Protestant martyr. Claire also shares John Foxe's account of Bayfield's burning. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/K2C1uDitPV0
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 27th November 1582, eighteen-year-old William Shakespeare, the famous playwright and a man known as the Bard, married twenty-six-year-old Anne (also known as Agnes) Hathaway, at Temple Grafton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire. 
Anne Hathaway was pregnant at the time of their marriage and went on to give birth to a daughter, Susannah, the following May. You can find out more about William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and their marriage, and also what happened to them, in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/d0_g9G8TXGA 
 

November 26 - The first men executed under Elizabeth I's new law

On this day in Tudor history, 26th November 1585, Catholic priest Hugh Taylor and his friend Marmaduke Bowes were hanged at York. 
They were the first men executed under Elizabeth I's 1585 statute which made it treason to be a Jesuit or seminary priest in England or to harbour such a priest. 
 
These two Catholics were beatified in 1987 by Pope John Paul II as two of the 85 Martyrs of England, Scotland and Wales.
Find out more about these men and what this 1585 legislation was all about in today's talk from historian Claire Ridgway. You can see this podcast as a video at the following link:
https://youtu.be/93IK-VoDABY
 
Book recommendation: "God’s Traitors: Terror & Faith in Elizabethan England” by Jessie Childs.
 
Also on this day in Tudor history, 26th November 1533, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, married Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, at Hampton Court Palace. They were both fourteen years old.It appears that the marriage, which was a political match rather than a love match, was the idea of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. You can find out more about the marriage and its context in last year’s video - https://youtu.be/BiUZPBM3wDA